Following Hua Erling.

The two of them stepped through the morning dew, arriving at a place filled with scattered rocks and thorns.

Qian Yuanzi's bloody and mangled, rotting corpse lay discarded there.

Even the nearby weeds, tainted by the corpse's fluids, began to wither.

"I don't want to bury him. Leaving his body exposed in the wilderness is just fine," Hua Erling explained.

Li Shiwuwu glanced over, suppressing the nauseating stench, and crouched down to carefully search through Qian Yuanzi's robe.

Before long, a yellow-brown sheepskin scroll appeared in his hand.

Unfurling it, it was about the size of two palms.

But with just one look, an indescribable sense of absurdity surged through Li Shiwuwu's heart.

"Shiwuwu, what's wrong?"

Hua Erling quickly leaned in to take a look, and was equally stunned.

On the sheepskin scroll was a row of crooked, childish handwriting, like a child's playful scribbles, looking incredibly naive.

It simply read: "Once upon a time, there was a mountain, on the mountain, there was a temple, in the temple, there was a monk."

"Not planting flowers, not planting grass, only planting immortals."

There was even a signature below: Qingyang Temple, Daoist Master Huoyan.

Besides, the sheepskin scroll had a small drawing of a temple, with simple elements like clouds, the sun, and grass...

The childish words and drawing gave the impression that the sheepskin scroll was the work of a young child.

"How could this be? Why?"

"Could the sheepskin scroll that Qian Yuanzi treasured so much really just be a child's doodle?"

Li Shiwuwu was full of confusion, unable to understand the reason behind it all.

"Shiwuwu, don't get caught up in this."

"Isn't there the word 'Qingyang Temple' on it? If we find it, we can uncover the truth," Hua Erling advised.

Li Shiwuwu nodded; at this point, it was the only option.

After all, he had successfully become a 'Seed Immortal.'

Everything related to the Seed Immortal Temple, he had to actively seek out.

"Erling, let's burn Qian Yuanzi," Li Shiwuwu suddenly suggested.

"Huh?"

Hua Erling frowned, "Shiwuwu, burning this old man, isn't that too easy on him?"

Li Shiwuwu shook his head, "No, I always feel this world is unusual, which is why beings like Lord Guan exist."

"Look, the old man's corpse is decaying very slowly."

"To prevent any evil from arising, it's best to burn it and be done with it."

"I don't want to see Qian Yuanzi turn into something strange and continue to haunt us."

Hua Erling shivered, "Alright, I'll listen to you."

Afterwards, the two searched for dry wood nearby.

Around noon, when the sun was at its peak, they built a pyre of decaying wood in an open area.

Li Shiwuwu looked up, the sunlight was intense, almost blinding.

As a spark fell.

In an instant, flames roared to life, sending a wave of heat that lifted the stray hairs on the foreheads of the two young people.

"Shiwuwu, it's just the two of us now," Hua Erling said, lowering his head, feeling an inexplicable heaviness in his heart.

"Yes, it's just the two of us."

Li Shiwuwu's face flickered in the firelight, his tone somber.

They had been like floating duckweed since childhood, rootless, homeless, not even knowing where home was.

They followed Qian Yuanzi, wandering from place to place, living in constant fear, enduring hardships, and experiencing countless sorrows.

At this moment, from within the flames, a series of piercing wails suddenly erupted, sharp and shrill, as if something was awakening.

Instantly, the two snapped back to reality, exchanged a glance.

"Erling, add more wood."

"Okay."

As for Li Shiwuwu, he gripped Qian Yuanzi's Chopping Knife tightly, staring intently at the corpse in the fire, ready for anything unexpected.

"Master, rest in peace."

"This immortal path, your disciple will complete for you."

Until night fell again, the flames gradually died down.

Amidst the scorched earth, Qian Yuanzi's body was finally burned to ashes, mingling with the charred remains of grass and wood, indistinguishable from one another.

Seeing this, the two finally breathed a sigh of relief.

And in their hearts, a deep sense of dread arose.

"Ugh, if that old man's corpse had turned into something evil, it would have been a disaster," Li Shiwuwu cursed with a laugh, feeling an unusual sense of relief.

But soon, he restrained his smile and asked, "Erling, where are they buried?"

"Follow me."

In the night,

Li Shiwuwu stood before four small mounds, gazing for a long time.

Until a night breeze, carrying a bone-chilling cold, swept over, he took out a map-like object from Lord Guan's belly.

Unfolding it, it was indeed a topographical sketch.

Not detailed, but sufficient for his needs.

"Bingzhou?"

Li Shiwuwu murmured, realizing that they were currently in a place called 'Bingzhou.'

And just from the incomplete map in his hand, he could see that Bingzhou was extraordinarily vast, with towering mountain ranges stretching endlessly, crisscrossing and undulating.

"Erling, let's head east."

"In that direction, there's a city, the closest to us."

And so they walked for three whole days.

On the morning of the fourth day, after crossing another mountain, they finally saw the city marked on the map.

After taking out some gold and silver from Lord Guan's belly and tidying up the dust on their bodies, they slowly approached the city gate.

Before long.

"Tang City!"

Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original.

Under the city gate, Hua Erling looked at the two large characters carved on the city wall, then at the bustling crowd coming and going.

He couldn't help but mutter, "Shiwuwu, maybe we should leave. There are too many people here, I feel uncomfortable."

Having lived in the wilderness for so long, suddenly coming to the mundane world was indeed unsettling.

Just then, the sound of hooves like thunder, raising a cloud of dust, came roaring from afar.

The people quickly moved to the sides of the road, heads lowered, as if they dared not confront this approaching group.

A few moments later.

Li Shiwuwu finally saw clearly.

It was ten men in white robes, wearing tall red hats, leading a hundred or so horses into the city.

With just one look, Li Shiwuwu's attention was drawn to the horses they led.

These horses were strange, very strange.

Each one was half a head taller than a normal horse, with no hair on their bodies, covered instead by black lumps that seemed to be made of flesh.

Moreover, these horses had no hooves.

Where the hooves should have been, there were five finger bones, like human hands.

After successfully becoming a 'Seed Immortal,' Li Shiwuwu's perception was different from before.

He inexplicably felt.

The horses before him were not horses.

But rather, humans!